Stop
by Jessiy Landroz
Summary: Turtle tot thoughts... [OneShot]


I stopped.

Okay, where did he go this time?

I groaned, he's never around when I look for him, I don't know if he avoids me, or I'm such a butter-finger he easily slips through my guard! I don't get it! With three brothers, he ought to find something to amuse himself with, right? He's the only to sneak off when I'm not watching, he's the only one so good at it, it sometimes ticks me off! Why does he keep doing this to me, anyway? Where did he go?

I stopped at the curve and waited.

Nothing, but the trickling of sewer water, after all we are living in a sewer system, it's the only home we had ever known. The skittering of sewer rats, which are unlike Sensei, they're awful small, not so intelligent, but not so dumb either. It's amazing to compare them to each other though; I mean, was Sensei ever _this_ small before? And then there is the scrawling of roaches, those icky little things.

With a shudder at the icky little insects, I sighed heavily and looked around.

Why does my baby brother keep doing this to me? Why can't he just stay at home like the rest of us, somewhere safe and away from trouble? I mean, he's got tons of toys and comics in his room, some new and some old, Sensei got them for him to keep him busy, so why is he being such a pain? I shook my head and walked ahead, I continued my search.

Right now, I'm standing at a junction, where I came from the path behind me, and to my left, I know it's a dead end, nothing in there but a solid brick wall, so my baby bro is probably at the other side of the tunnel, in his other secret spot or something. I don't see why he makes up secret spots, or secret bases, it's not a good idea for him to wonder around on his own, not even in the sewers.

I shake my head again in frustration, and then walk through the right tunnel, following the murky stream towards it's exit, and towards the end. I know this area, not too well, but well enough to reach the end and back towards the lair. Sensei asked us to memorize the area the best we could, just so when we're older, we won't get lost.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, I stopped, and I hold in an angry shout once I caught glimpse of his shell.

He's sitting down on the edge of the open drainage pipe, as the small murky river of water flows down, and meets up with the ocean. It's the outskirts of the city, and the end of the sewer system, it's where all the dirty water is leaked out. Though there aren't any humans around, it's still not safe to stay out and exposed like that, for someone might see him!

He was sitting down, letting his legs dangle down, swinging them I think, and he's humming a familiar song to himself. It's late at night now, and the full moon is illuminating the brilliant, bark blue, starlit sky, as the cool summer breeze blows into the sewer tunnel. I closed my eyes as the cool breeze blows against me, not too strong, but enough to let me squint my eyes just a bit, clogging them.

Caressed by the soft wind, I inhale deeply, for the scent of the great salty sea assaults my senses, and I smile.

It's so relaxing here, and it's so peaceful, too.

"I know that's you bro, stop trying to sneak up on me, okay?" baby bro says softly, then scoots closer to the wall, he pats the space he had just freed, "Wanna join me?" he now turns to face me, smiling.

Anger forgotten, I smiled and nod my head, now I head towards him and we sit side by side.

Now smiling at the ocean before me, I inhale again.

Soft Ocean blue across and beyond the eye can see, the moon shining it's light on it's surface, making glowing ripples across the uneven surface. I grin and my baby bro and I exchange smiles. It's really is beautiful out here, and right about now, I don't think I can blame him for leaving the lair unnoticed, we all could use a break from all the tension, anyway.

Ever since Sensei hurt himself in the last scavengers hunt, we've been kind of worried, but although he keeps assuring us that his leg is healing just fine, we can't help but feel that he's bluffing, just so we'd feel better and not worry. Baby bro here is the one scared the most, I guess, he's the only one who runs off, and usually here when he's not feeling okay.

For a moment, I found myself thinking, so I turned to him.

"Why do you always come here?" I asked him.

He keeps on smiling, and doesn't answer.

With a slight furrow, I gaze back out and towards the ocean.

Down below are a few giant stones, where the waves crash, I'm not sure where this drainage tunnel is, aside that it's a good hour walk to the lair, and it's on the outskirts of the city, but far, far away, I can see Brookline bridge, so I guess that's a hint. The bay here is too far and passing ships won't see two small, child sized, green figured sitting on a draining tunnel.

"Maybe because we're turtles?" baby bro murmurs softly.

I look at him, and realize he's answering my question with another question, "Maybe." I answer in the same matter.

"You know? We might be pet shop turtles, but we're still turtles." He then says, furrowing a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno…" he pouts, "I can't explain it myself."

I eye him for a moment, and he does look confused.

I take a moment, trying to see if I could explain what he said.

We're turtles, but we got mutated with the green ooze, true that none of us have any idea what the thing is, or was, but Sensei still has the canister in his room, and whenever we ask him things about our origin, and why we came to be the way we are, he says that only when we grow older, and figure out where the canister came from, will we truly understand out origin.

Our secret origin…

Sometimes, it's the only mystery that tickers our minds.

"Do you think our mom is out there somewhere?" he asks.

Startled, I eye him, but say nothing.

"Do you think she feels the same way we do, that she misses us and wants to meet us?"

I sadly look away, for I know she may not think that way.

Sensei had always said we possess the one thing that tells the difference between humans and animals, and that's being a human means you're an intelligent being, while animals might have feelings, they aren't exactly like us, or as intelligent as humans see them to be. In other words, even if our blood related mother is out there, she'll never miss us, because she's not thinking of us the way we're thinking of her.

Of course, I'd never say something like that to baby bro.

"I don't know."

He nods, accepting my answer.

For a very long moment, I grew to appreciate the silence.

It was nice, in a way.

We just sat there, watching the reflection of the moon as it danced before our eyes, shinning, glittering, and beaming down with such- beauty! I don't think I've even dreamt of something this lovely before, it's really amazing! Even with the bridge so far away, sending blinking lights over the water, it's really pretty, and it's shimming all over the place.

"Sometimes," baby bro spoke again, "I really wonder if she's out there, and if she's doing okay."

I eye him again, but still say nothing.

"Because, you know, though we may not have met her, she's still our mom, right?"

I smiled, "Yeah, and though we may not even be from the same cluster of eggs, we're sill brothers."

He smiled and nods, "Right!" he grins.

Another soft, cool breeze blew into the tunnel, and we both giggled.

It was really cool, caressing our skin, tickling us, making our masks ruffle with the gentle breeze. I liked this place, it was a real privet spot, and although it's far from the lair, it's still relatively safe, I guess. The nearest boat isn't even near our spot, so even if someone managed to see us, we still have the chance to just bolt up and hide before they arrive, it's safe.

"Think Sensei is worried about us?" baby bro asked.

I nodded, "He asked us to scatter and go look for you." I admitted.

With a nod, he pushed himself up and brushed his legs.

I got up and held out a hand, he smiled and accepted it.

Now hand in hand, we walked back home.

Watching my shadow shrink before me as we walked into the tunnel, I let out a small snort at the reek of the sewer, and appreciated the soft breeze of the ocean, but knew I had more important things to do than laze about like that. I also knew that maybe our lives in the sewer isn't all that bad, I mean at least we have each other, and a home, right?

Sensei always reminded us, despite our differences, we're still a family, and still brothers, so no matter what happens, we have to look after each other, to love and to protect, not to let each other down, and to support each other through thick and thin. I don't like it when he tries to remind us, to tell us he's old, that it's a cruel world, that we are not to go topside without permission, because humans don't understand our being, but most of all, because we're too young to defend ourselves, and that he's growing old and may not live for too long.

"Think Sensei is gonna be okay?" his tiny hand holds on tighter to mine.

With an assuring squeeze, I nod and smile, but not turn to him, "I'm sure he's fine."

"Un." He nods again, silently agreeing with me.

With my eyes adjusting to the darkness of the tunnels, I led us back home.

I follow Sensei's instructions, and maneuver our way home, careful not to go too fast or too slow, just incase we're being followed, though my senses aren't catching anything yet, but if we are being followed, I'll send the follower astray, and they won't find where we're living. The hour worth of walking ended up a good hour and a half, but we got back home safe.

Of course, once arriving home, I realized the lair was dark, but the TV was on, though the mute option was places on the sound. My other two brothers were already sleeping on the couch, deep into dream land, so I guess the arrived earlier and were too tired to stay awake. After all, it was long past our bed time, and both baby bro and I were exhausted. Awaiting our return, Sensei slept in his armchair, or was napping actually, because once baby bro and I arrived, he opened his eyes and turned his head to us, smiling.

"Welcome home, my sons." Sensei greeted gently.

Smiling, baby bro released my hand and hurried to Sensei, now hugging him, "Sorry about leaving, Sensei."

Sensei just smiled and patted his head, "It is alight my son, everything is alright now."

I smiled and walked over to my other two brothers.

With Sensei's help, the four of us went to our bedroom and were tucked into bed.

Sensei's injured leg was healing much better now, it didn't hurt him too badly, and he said that the ointment he made is helping the injury heal faster, so he'll take the bandages off tomorrow morning, then we can go scavengers hunting together. Baby bro was really excited, but also tired, it had been a very long night, anyway, and we all need our shuteye.

Once in bed, Sensei kissed our heads goodnight, and let the night light on.

Snuggling into each other, my other two brothers were already cuddling, sound asleep, so baby bro and I snuggled into each other, giggling and tiredly yawning. It didn't take long before he fell asleep, but I just couldn't sleep just yet, I don know why, I just stayed awake for a short while after, thinking about the four of us, how we're together.

It's great to have a family, and I love them all, I love them very dearly, even if they sometimes don't express it the way I do. We all have our hobbies, out similarities and differences, and Sensei once said that growing up with too many differences might set us apart, and that we should always remember that we're brothers, and try to keep our bonds, because we only have each other.

I smiled and snuggled deeper into sleep.

Of course back then, we were just kids, and I didn't think too much about it, but right now, I realized that no matter how focused you are, things just slip past your attention, and you never see it until after it is over. I don't regret it, but I do feel bad, seeing us growing further apart, having too many differences between us, it's painful to see us not strongly bonding like how we used to when we were younger.

I just sit there, I listen to them laugh, I hear them breath, I hear them shout and I feel them shifting, moving about in every single direction, I can hear them out, I can sense them, and I can feel them, but I can never go through their secret barriers, for they never let me. Growing up might have set our personal life apart, but our general life is bonding us stronger, thought only in voice and speech, general conversations and actions, little interaction here and there, yet that's almost all there is, and nothing more.

"How about you get off your tail and do something useful for a change?" one of my brothers rants.

"But I am doing something useful!" baby bro complained.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Ignoring you!" he grins.

"Why you little--!"

And hell breaks lose.

"Leo! Could you _please_ do something?" Donny complains.

I sigh and get up, "One minute, if they don't stop, I'll interfere."

With a groan, Don agrees, he goes back to his contraptions.

Hothead, baby bro, or genius, they're all different yet the same.

They're my family, my brothers, and I'm theirs.

Nothing will change that.

Nothing at all.

Well, nothing unless hothead makes us one-baby-brother-less, that is…

Xxxxxxxxx

A/N: Um, general Leo POV, so yeah… not exactly a Leo Mike fic, but I tried Oo;


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